The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1887-05-20

winning many victories, never lost the life of q
man through a blunder; who lived beloved by
the brave fellows ut his back and died iari ted,
leaving his monument in the hearts OF lis sol
diers. Modest, silent and strangely solitary he
left the record of lis deeds to the kee ling of the
brave .uen WHO made those deeds p ss;DIe No
press reporter made his headquarters source of
noisy eulogy; no political party used his name in
return for partisan favors Suspected by the
government he did SO much to save, he died neg
lected by the very men whose tenure of DO . er he
had made secure. &ss a ars
Thomas himself modestly believed that the
success Of an army depends more on the drill
and discipline of the men than the ability of
their officers. He was heard to say: "The
brave men drilled and cared for, the men
whose confidence / won, made me all 1 can
claim to be as commander" s.-...ss a..
Col. Piatt gives some new and original
views on West Point, which, as a curiosity, if
nothing else, are worth quoting. He says it
was not what West Point taught Gen.
Thomas, but what West Point failed to teach,
upon which he afterward gradua ed into
greatness. The defects of the school first
called his attention to more in our military
system, and then study enabled him, while in
the war, to call order out of chaos, and create
an army that was irresistible in the field.
West Point! This academy 81 says the unfalter-
ing Piatt. 'is little school on the Hudson popu-
LARRY supposed to produce military men. As war
is not a science hardly an art, one is puzzled to
know how it can be taught; and even if it could
be, the learned professors would find themselves
troubled, as all learned professors are, to create
the mind necessary to apply the science after the
teaching. OF a thousand pupils most admirably
instructed in law or physic, one only is capable
of using the information gained.
10 81 afFo oof
that in training one to habits of study and an
active use of memory, mind is actually created,
and of the Thousand, all are capable of being
lifted to the same intellectual level People can
not comprehend nor be made to believe that in
any school the same inequality prevails that OBJ
tains in common life. The many are stupid; the
few alone are thoughtful We are well aware Of
the fact that man may be taught all that science
and art can contribute and yet remain fool. 1t
is not the accumulation of facts that gives intel
lectual power but the ability to use the informa-
ton so obtained.
There is mystery in the public mind about
West Point that would be ludicrous did it not
carry such grave consequences. It is believed
that through some unknown and unknowable
process of education the little academy gradu-
ates Napoleons every year. The ancient chest
nut which tells us of the machine that takes in
swine and turns out sausage has its parallel in
what is believed OF West Point. Raw youths
"nocS ietck VI Cdunc oAlt W
doubt the propriety Of making them clerks in
country stores, are captured by members Of con-
gress and in a few years graduate into office
where the lives of men and perhaps the safety Of
the country depend on their ability
'sThe mystery is readily solved There is moth
ing taught at West Point that differs from the
teaching of any other academy of like preten-
siops save the training of the soldier ard therein
lies the most ludicrous feature of the whole ar
fnir. There is nothing in the training of the SCI
dier however important and necessary it may be.
that helps on or benefits the officer. After being
taught to touch elbows, FIRE gun, mount guard
and dig ditch, the poor fellow IS as far removed
from what the academy claims to create as when
he first began He is nothing more nor less than
o drill sergeant. AS well assert that one must
know how to shoe horse as preliminary to rid
ing as to claim that the drill Of the private Is
necessary to the making Of an officer; and in the
duties OF an officer, as have said, there Is no
science. TO march out; find the enemy and fight
him successfully has no rules which can be re-
duced TO practice. Gen. Halieck wrote book on
the art Of war which was about as useful IN
campaign as treatise on infant baptism would
have been, end when Halleck was called Epon to
practice what he taught. he initiated, in feeble
way, the great Napoleon. who conquered Europe
by setting at naught all the wisdom OF the
schools, and the famous captain left but one AK
iom as the net purport and result OF all his expe
rience. and that Is of no use 70 the average r-sd